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Unshod Gebremarian shooed home as Junior Men’s Winner
24 March 2002 – Dublin, Ireland -Nobody is keeping the
statistics for how many IAAF world champions started the event
with shoes and then have won their titles with no shoes. At
the Leopardstown racecourse on Sunday the crowds got a chance
to witness the focus and determination of the Ethiopian Gebre-egziable
Gebremarian.
“I lost my shoe at the start of the race,” said
Gebremarian, who didn’t reveal whether it had been clawed
off by another runner or just by the spongy surface, which
had got noticeably more muddy from Saturday after some overnight
rain.
“It took me a few kilometres to get used to the sensation
of running without shoes, but I’ve run barefoot in the
past so it wasn’t so strange. It was always my idea to
start steadily because I knew the Kenyans would try go very
fast from the gun, but this wasn’t part of my plan.”
The Kenyan's not only attempted to go out fast, but they
stuck to their task of old, to send 'rabbitts' out to burn
off their opposition. For once this tactic was not successful,
as the Ethiopian patiently waited for the right opportunity
only taking the lead in the finishing straight. Finishing
like a steam train, albeit without shoes on a slippery uphill.
The Ethiopian junior men’s champion last month - whose
full name means Servant of God, Servant of Mary - proved to
be an accurate prophet in his first ever race outside of his
native country.
Abel Cheruiyot and Thomas Kiplatan - who were eventually
to finish 2nd and 4th - sped into the lead from the gun and
after 3km of the 8km race the leading pack only consisted
on five men, with Gebremarian lying back in 10th.
The Kenyan pair, assisted by their compatriot Eliud Kipchoge,
were concentrating on the threat posed by Uganda’s Boniface
Kiprop. However, by 6km Gebremarian had closed the gap rapidly
and was in contention with the lead pack.
With 1,500m to go, Gebremarian had joined the leading quartet
of the three Kenyans and Kiprop, and he was the only man to
follow Cheruiyot when he surged at the bell. Coming into the
final 200m, Gebremarian - whose upright style in in the fashion
of many leading Ethiopian runners including the legendary
Haile Gebrselassie - overtook the loping Cheruiyot and sped
away for a one second victory.
Gebremarian became the first runner from the southern province
of Tigray to win a title on the global stage since Miruts
Yifter hit double gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and crossed
the line in 23:18, followed closely by Cheruiyot, with Kiprop
winning Uganda’s first ever individual world cross country
medal in third, stopping the clock at 23:28.
Curiously, Cheruiyot and Kiprop both come from the same Kalenjin
tribe that inhabits the Rift Valley, despite representing
different countries, the pair living only a few miles apart
and separated only by a border established in colonial times.
Kenya, despite being displaced at the top of the individual
medal podium, packed well enough to lift their 14th junior
men’s title in 15 years, with Kipchoge in 5th and Nicolas
Kemboi in 7th completing their scoring quartet.
Gebremarian lead Ethiopia to the silver medals, while Uganda
repeated their performance of last year by coming home third.
Adapted report from the IAAF. www.iaaf.org
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